Spartans Close Out Fall Season At Stetson
11/1/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Golf
Nov. 1, 2009
Spartanburg, S.C. - For the first time this season, USC Upstate will play in a tournament with multiple A-Sun teams when the Spartans play their final tournament of the season at the Holiday Inn Express/Hatter Invitational Monday and Tuesday at Victoria Hills Golf Club in DeLand, Fla. Upstate is coming off an encouraging final round at the Boscobel Invitational last week when three of the five players lowered their scores from the first round and turned in a solid tournament.
Upstate will hit the links against seven other teams in the field. Upstate and A-Sun foes Florida Gulf Coast, Jacksonville, Lipscomb and Stetson (host) will also battle Bethune-Cookman, Daytona State and Florida Southern in the tournament. Victoria Hills will play at 6,056 yards and is a par-72 trip.
Recapping The Boscobel Invitational
Jennifer Judge and Cheryl Lo turned in remarkably consistent performances and Johanna Ebenhag, Marris Clontz and Natalie Buch each lowered their scores in the final round as Upstate finished sixth at the Boscobel Invitational last weekend. The Spartans opened the tournament with a 335. Judge and Lo equaled their scores from the first round with Judge turning in rounds of 79 and 79, and Lo carding back-to-back 80's to lead Upstate. However, Buch lowered her score by five strokes, Ebenhag by two and Clontz by one to shave five strokes off of the team score from the first round to card a 300. Judge finished tied for 10th for her first top 10 finish of the year.
Returning To Central Florida
Upstate returns to the Holiday Inn Express/Hatter Invitational for the third straight year. The Spartans finished seventh in the event in 2007 with three players finishing in the top 30. Last year, Upstate finished third with three players in the top 15 and four in the top 30. Johanna Ebenhag, though, is the only player in the Upstate lineup to have played in the tournament, having toured Victoria Hills in 2007.
Lower Lineup Comes Through
Jennifer Judge and Cheryl Lo have been strong at the top of the lineup throughout the season. What head coach Todd Lawton wanted to see happen was to have the three-five players improve their play from the first round to the last. For the first time this season, that happened at the Boscobel Invitational. Combined, Natalie Buch, Marissa Clontz and Johanna Ebenhag lowed their scores by eight strokes from the first round to the last.
Judge Has Tough Time Off The Course At Boscobel
Jennifer Judge turned in back-to-back 79's and finished tied for 10th at the Boscobel Invitational last weekend. The top 10 finish was made all the more impressive after Judge's body took quite a toll over the three-day event. She sprained her ankle in the practice round on Friday and played the two tournament rounds the next two days with a heavily taped ankle. The hilly terrain of the course made it difficult to move through the course. As the team loaded the van to head to the course Sunday morning, the back hatch fell on her head. She was evaluated at the course and diagnosed with a possible concussion, but was cleared to play. Quite a performance despite the physical toll taken on and off the course.
The Buch Stops Here
Sophomore Natalie Buch did not play a competitive round last season. This year, she is one of the key players in the lineup for the Spartans. She turned in quite a round last Sunday at the Boscobel Invitational. She struggled early and went out in 50. However, she rallied on her back nine and shot 37 for a round of 87 to help Upstate maintain its position of sixth in the tournament. The 87 was five strokes better than her opening-round 92 last Saturday.
Halkett A Steadying Hand
The women's golf program and head coach Todd Lawton have received a boost in the last year with the addition of assistant women's golf coach Sandy Halkett making the rounds on the course. Halkett is an LPGA teaching professional at Eagle Zone Golf Center in Greenville. Her presence on the team has helped the Spartans with course management and technique while giving Lawton a much-needed extra person to help run the program.
